The top two candidates to replace departed Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy are current Denver quarterbacks coach Adam Gase and former Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt. But other coaches could sneak into the equation. Here’s a look:

Broncos QB coach Adam Gase

Up-and-comer who arrived in Josh McDaniels’ first year in 2009 and has drawn praise for his work with Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning. Was wide receivers coach when Brandon Marshall was with the Broncos. Former Rams coach Mike Martz has called Gase “a fabulous coach.”

Speaking to reporters Wednesday during his weekly presser, Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio reminisced about his 1999-2001 stint as an assistant coach at Baltimore under then coach Brian Billick.

The 2000 Ravens recorded four shutouts and set the NFL 16-game record for fewest points allowed (165).

The performance by Knowshon Moreno last week at Kansas City was a reminder that the Broncos have one the league’s best running backs coaches in Eric Studesville.

Moreno was inactive for eight consecutive games, yet Studesville kept him prepared enough for 85 yards rushing on 20 carries plus 26 yards receiving on four catches. A back doesn’t go from collecting mothballs to collecting more than 100 yards from scrimmage without coaching.

The Broncos held the run-oriented Pittsburgh Steelers to 2.9 yards per carry in the opener and stuffed Atlanta tailback Michael Turner to just 42 yards on 17 carries — a 2.5 yard average — on Monday night.

John Fox was hired as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2003. He hired Jack Del Rio to be his defensive coordinator.

When Jack Del Rio was hired a year later as the head coach of the Jaguars, he hired Mike Smith to be HIS defensive coordinator. The Falcons hired Smith as head coach in 2008. In 2007, Del Rio hired Dirk Koetter to be his offensive coordinator.

Del Rio was fired by the Jaguars late last season, and he joined Fox here in Denver in January, about the time Smith hired Koetter to be the Falcons’ new offensive coordinator. Smith also hired Mike Nolan to run the Falcons’ defense. Yes, the same Mike Nolan who was the Broncos’ defensive coordinator in 2009.

Got that? Phew.

Smith said Thursday he’s easily able to tell the Broncos are Del Rio’s defense.

“I see a whole bunch of Jack Del Rio,” Smith said. “Jack and [Fox] have very similar philosophies. They play hard, they’re aggressive, and they’re going to be putting pressure on you all the time.”

In Atlanta, Koetter told reporters today that he wasn’t so much focused on the matchup of familiar coaches. Koetter interviewed for the Broncos’ head coaching job in 2011 before the Broncos hired Fox.

“I will always have part of me that holds — Jack gave me my first opportunity in the NFL— so I will always be indebted to him for that,” Koetter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But this is a players’ game and we are both in new situations. We are both trying to earn our way with new teams. It’s nothing more than that.”

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DOVE VALLEY — I hope you caught my feature on Ty Warren in Sunday’s paper. The Broncos defensive tackle was quite honest about the challenges he’s faced in returning to football after missing two seasons with injuries.

“Football is still football, but I’ve had some humbling moments as I’m trying to learn the defense,” Warren said last week as the Broncos prepared for the preseason finale.

But Warren is confident that now that the regular season is here, he’s closing in on the form that helped make him one of the best run-stopping defensive linemen in the league.

Here, watch him talk about getting back to football and adjusting to Jack Del Rio’s defense:

Four days after he was cleared to return to practice, safety Jim Leonhard continues to see more work with the Broncos’ defense and special teams.

This practice is good for both Leonhard, a veteran safety who signed with the Broncos Aug. 5, and the Broncos, as they try to envision where Leonhard will fit.

“I didn’t focus on him, specifically, but some of the coaches said that he fit in,” defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said Friday afternoon. “You can tell he has great awareness and anticipation of things. We’ll continue to get him worked into it.”

Leonhard is expected to compete for a spot as a sure-tackling strong safety as well as punt returner. Friday marked Leonhard’s first practice in pads — albeit shoulder pads only — since joining the Broncos. He was activated off the physically unable to perform list on Tuesday.

“I thought he moved around well, and we’ll take that slow just like we are with all our injured players,” coach John Fox said. “When they’re deemed ready to play, we’ll play them.”

It’s hard to picture Peyton Manning nervous. The Manning we see is seemingly always in control — of his huddle, of the line of scrimmage, of the media scrum that waits for him each Thursday of training camp.

But Manning, in his post-practice press conference Thursday afternoon, took reporters back to a time when he truly felt intimidated on a football field.

Of course, he was also 17 at the time.

In 1993, Jim Mora Sr. allowed Manning — heading into his senior year at Isidore Newman School — to not only sit in on meetings with the New Orleans Saints, but to join in on drills during offseason practices.

“I actually got to practice with them a little bit, which may have been as nervous as I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Manning said. “I was in there looking across at Pat Swilling and some of these guys and I was 17 years old, which was great experience for me going to college.”

Manning continued:

“Usually, you have to be probably related to a coach or your dad maybe had to have played quarterback there for 14 years to get that kind of access,” he said, laughing. “So, not just anybody off the street would be allowed to do that. I felt fortunate my dad did the radio for the Saints back in that time so Jim Mora allowed me to come out there. This was during OTAs, so it was serious business for them. So yes, it’s not something I took for granted at all. It was a unique, valuable experience. I’ve never thrown at that kind of speed before and it really helped me when I went to college.”

Manning and the Broncos have tried to help defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s son, Luke, in similar ways as Luke prepares for his senior year as quarterback at Valor Christian High in Highlands Ranch. Luke didn’t actually take any live snaps, but he sat in on meetings and helped assistant coaches run practices during OTAs and early in training camp. Del Rio has already given a verbal commitment to play at Oklahoma State.

“I know Luke, this will be a great experience for him, just listening to meetings—that was big for me—hearing about different ideas on coverages. I’m looking forward to keeping up with him this year. He’s a great kid,” Manning said.

Once the regular season starts in September, D.J. Williams won’t be allowed at Dove Valley, won’t be able to work out in the team’s weight room, attend meetings with Broncos coaches or practice with his teammates.

Those are the rules that go along with Williams’ six-game suspension for violating the league’s banned substance policy.

But for now, Williams remains part of the Broncos’ 90-man preseason roster. He missed two practices this week to attend his trial on drunk driving charges (he was convicted of DWAI – a lesser alcohol-related offense), but otherwise has been at every practice.

He even traveled to Chicago with the team last week, though he did not suit up and did not play.

That brings me to Saturday night. Will Williams see the field against Seattle?

Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio kicked off his press conference Thursday by talking about how important these organized team activities are for the Broncos’ rookies.

“The younger guys, they’re swimming right now. They’re trying to figure out the speed of the game, the athletes, and then the volume on top of that. So it’s a lot for them,” Del Rio said. “This is a good time, because prior to camp, they will have heard everything.”

So, that said, wouldn’t Del Rio as a coach be frustrated that the team’s top draft pick, defensive tackle Derek Wolfe, isn’t allowed to join the team yet? Wolfe’s class at the University of Cincinnati does not graduate until June 9, after which Wolfe can report to Dove Valley.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.